RICKY HATTON staggered out of his bedroom at Caesars Palace wearing a towel around his midriff.

It seemed that, just as he had predicted, his battles with Mr Guinness the long night before had ended in defeat.

But as Hatton settled down into a chair and ordered up a strong coffee, he was quickly back into fighting form.

The day after his victory over Jose Luis Castillo, attention was already switching fast to the identity of his next opponent.

Hatton would like to fight IBF light-welterweight champion Paul Malignaggi in New York at the end of October because it has always been one of his ambitions to top the bill at Madison Square Garden.

Others in his camp are hoping they can line up Malignaggi at Wembley Stadium. Others are still suggesting Oscar De La Hoya could be a Wembley opponent.

But in the longer term, the talk is bound to centre on whether a fight can be made between Hatton and Floyd Mayweather Jr, the man even Hatton acknowledges is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

But if Hatton has respect for Mayweather's boxing skills, he was utterly scathing about the lack of entertainment in his fights. "He's a great fighter but his performances bore you to tears," said Hatton.

"As good as he is, he sends you to sleep. As a boxing fan, I sit back and think 'how much talent has that man got' but a victory against him is not beyond me.

"I would be the underdog but a fighter like me would be his worst nightmare. He wants me like a hole in the head.

"A few years ago, he was saying he would come to England and fight me in my own backyard but then I beat Kostya Tszyu and he went a bit quiet. I've got to a stage where I only want to fight big names. The bigger the name, the better I fight."

Hatton was adamant that he would not consider as a priority a fight against Junior Witter, the Yorkshire fighter who holds the WBC version of the world light-welterweight title.

There has been a long history of animosity between Hatton and Witter and even though the fight would make sense financially, Hatton doesn't want to know.

"Junior Witter has spent his career getting a reputation off my back and slagging me off," said Hatton. "Now he needs me more than I need him. I've no doubts I would beat him but there is a nasty part of me enjoying seeing him squirm, fighting nobodies and making no money."

By now, Hatton was warming to his theme and reliving the night before. He talked about the bravado of leaving his neutral corner as Castillo was trying to beat the count after Hatton's body shot had put him down. "I stood over him and when he looked up at me I was there as if to say 'come on, get up then'. But if he had, I'd have s**t myself."

He talked about working himself up into a fury in his dressing room before the fight and suddenly taking a break from punching the walls to see Castillo's two sons standing there.

They had come in search of their hero, Wayne Rooney, but Hatton found himself shaking hands with them as they wished him good luck. "That was a first," he said.

He talked about how nervous Rooney had been about carrying Hatton's IBO world title belt.

"As we were waiting to go into the ring," said Hatton, "Wayne was standing there taking deep breaths and one of the lads said to him 'it is OK Wayne, you haven't got to fight the guy'."

And finally, he talked about how his trainer, Billy Graham, had rung him just before dawn to chastise him for ignoring his instructions and flying at Castillo from the opening bell.